In the first installment of my ‘New Year, New You’ series, I wrote about how the start of a new year was the perfect time to change all those things that perhaps bugged you a little in the previous year – such as your job, your wage and your home.

But, on later reflection upon the latter subject, I realized that for many, moving home probably wasn’t the most financially viable option when it comes to starting 2013 afresh. After all, given the current economic climate and the situation of the housing market, this prospect is totally unrealistic for many.

So, if my suggestion of changing your home did you get thinking, but you just can’t afford to uproot completely, then here are a few ways you can transform your home, so you can start 2013 in a beautiful fresh new home:

The Living Room

The living room should be a place all the family can go to, to relax, unwind and put their feet up after a hard day at work or school. But, for some reason, you just can’t stand spending time in yours. You can’t quite figure out if it’s because of that laminate flooring you put down, or if it’s because of the old sofa that’s long passed it’s time, or whether it’s just everything combined.

Well, if this is you and you’re looking for ways to change your living room without spending a fortune, then believe it or not, there are a few simple ways you can transform it beyond recognition, whilst still keep those all important pennies in the piggy-bank.

If your living room is a little on the small side and you long for a bigger living room, then purchase a mirror – yes, that’s right; It really is as simple as that. Buy a frame-less mirror and pop it above your fireplace and it’ll instantly open up the room and create the illusion of a much bigger space.

If you’re sick of your old sofa, then the New Year is the perfect time to purchase a new one – big furniture giants often have their biggest sales at the end of the year, just after Christmas. So, if you’ve had your eye on a gorgeous corner piece all year, then now’s the perfect time to buy it!

The Bedrooms

We all like our bedrooms to look nice – after all, they’re the first rooms we see when we wake up and the last ones we see before we go to bed. But, you’ve had that plain magnolia on the walls for years now and quite frankly, you’re getting a bit tired of it. You’d love to decorate it with that gorgeous wallpaper you’ve seen, but you’re terrified about what the final price would be.

Well, you can decorate it with that lovely wallpaper and you can afford to do it – with a feature wall. Feature walls have become increasingly popular in recent times, simply because of their affordability and their ability to make a room look effortlessly sophisticated.  Classic feature walls normally consist of ones backing the bed or at the foot of a room.

Bathroom

From having a bath or shower, to brushing our teeth or putting on make-up, we spend an astonishing amount of time in our bathrooms on a day-to-day basis. So, it’s important that they get a little sprucing up from time to time, too.

But, splashing out on a brand new bathroom suite can get pricey – after all, the old one has to be completely ripped out, and you can end up spending a fortune on a new one to be fitted in its place.

But, there’s a much cheaper way to changing the whole dimension of your bathroom completely; a bathroom TV. Now, I know you probably only ever really see bathroom TVs on programs that spy on the homes of the rich and famous, but believe it or not, they really are affordable.

Simply mount one on the wall facing your bath or shower, and you can enjoy your favourite programs whilst you’re winding down in the bath, or catch up on the morning news when you jump in for your shower. And, what’s more, when they’re switched off, they standby-by screen changes itself into a fully functional mirror, so you can prune yourself in it once you’ve finished bathing!